Strong arguments are emerging on both sides of key topics in the Beaver Lake Master Plan, including the expansion of sports fields and the use of synthetic turf, and the provision of a facility for fishermen.

City of Sammamish Parks and Recreation Director Jessie Richardson said at the joint Sammamish council and Parks Commission study session on Tuesday that “we are nowhere near getting any resolution” on the issue of sports fields, following two stakeholder meetings and two meetings for the general public in previous months.

Richardson said that there had been questions as to why the city was preparing a master plan at all, and she replied that such a plan provided the city with a “roadmap,” and “prevented any developments at the park happening in a piecemeal fashion” in the future.

What sort of swimming area would be provided at the lake took up much of the discussion on Tuesday night, with councilors Kathy Huckabay and Nancy Whitten both saying they were in favor of a formalized swimming area, as long as the loss of trees could be minimized.

In light of recent conflicts between swimmers and fishers on the western shore of the lake, Huckabay questioned whether or not the lake needed to accommodate fishing at all.

“There are a lot of people fishing at Beaver Lake. That hasn’t even been taken off the table,” Richardson replied.

Whitten said that she had heard the comment that “after what they did at Pine Lake Park, people need to have somewhere to swim,” referring to the recent works at Pine Lake to stabilize the shoreline.

Richardson said that although the public preferred sand at beach areas, that was not an option, due to existing regulations which prohibit the importation of sand.

There seemed to be a general agreement amongst the council and commission members that a swimming area was the preferred option, until commission member Rena Brady said that during the most recent public meeting on the subject, “swimming was not unanimous.”

“This is a hot issue,” she said.

Councilor Mark Cross said that planners needed to be sensitive to the close proximity of residences to the north of the proposed swimming area.

“There are other swimming areas, such as the one down at Lake Sammamish in Issaquah, and so I don’t know if we have to be maximizing the swim area here,” he said.

Commission member Hank Klein proposed the original idea of moving the swimming area south, and the fishing area to the north, to act as a “buffer” between swimmers and residents, working with the assumption that fishers would be quieter. This idea was well received.

Sports Fields

“If you thought swimming was a hot topic, you’ll really like what they had to say about the sports fields,” Richardson said, before council and commission members began to weigh the pros and cons of expanding sports facilities at Beaver Lake.

Whitten said she was not in favor of “pulling down trees and putting up light.”

“If you put in artificial turf, then you need to justify the cost, and that means putting up lights,” she said.

Councilor Jack Barry asked what impact would additional fields have on sports teams in the community.

Richardson informed councilors and committee members that there are groups and teams who are at present that the city is not able to accommodate, before adding that one of the benefits of synthetic fields was that it would allow play all year round. Natural turf fields have a “down-time” of between three and four months, to help them regenerate.

Mayor Don Gerend said that “with one-third of our population under 18, he understood the pressure on the provision of sports fields,” and said he would support artificial turf, as well as lighting as long as it was “downward pointing” like the lights at Eastlake High School.

In other discussions, the idea of a community garden underneath the power line easement was proposed and well received. The city is restricted on what it can do in the power line easement, in order to provide access for repair teams.

Although it has proved unpopular in discussions to date, Gerend said “let’s not be flippant about the moving the off-leash dog area,” saying that it was a valuable resource for many people.

Richardson said that her department had yet to come away with any clear direction on the off-leash area.

The city will hold another public meeting on the Beaver Lake Master Plan in September.